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SolaraGuy.com • View topic - Carputer DONE!!!! New Video 4/30/09
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PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2007 5:05 pm
by hari-bhari
Ruskimafia wrote:you got pics of the set up like where lap top is mounted and the slim external parts like HDD and DVD


sorry i forgot to answer the laptop question. the reason i called the thread 'sneak peek' is bc its not really installed yet. i intend on mounting the laptop vertically on some 'feet' because its supposed to be better for the hard drive. it will be attached to the back of my backseat next to the amp. it wont be the cleanest looking thing but it will get the job done.

PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2007 5:15 pm
by MCOjerry
hari-bhari wrote:i am about 50% of the way to stomaching selling my car off. is anyone interested in the carputer and bezel (assuming you send me back your stock bezel)? you would have to know some wiring basics and need a dremel to cut out the mount for the stock hu, but you could install it all in a day. id rather a fellow solara owner get the full setup.


You just did all this, and now you want to sell your car. Did you forget your medecine today? :lol:

You are in ATL, whatcha doin' with a map of the Orlando area on your nav? :D

PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2007 5:34 pm
by hari-bhari
i know man, but the opportunity only presented itself today. how can i turn it down??

and as for orlando maps, i was on vacation :D

PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2007 6:29 pm
by Ruski
that nice dude .. cant wait to see it all up and running

PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2007 6:42 pm
by woa_its_j3ff
this is exactly why you shouldnt sell your car.
er.. one of the reasons :]

PostPosted: Fri May 18, 2007 3:52 am
by xavier
But if you do sell her....Ill pick the carputer off your hands for ya! :)

Hit me or give me a call 678-429-3000.

PostPosted: Mon May 21, 2007 5:14 pm
by SleeperSolara
Looks pimp man. 8)

PostPosted: Mon May 21, 2007 7:59 pm
by hari-bhari
first post updated with a pic of the laptop

i should really just call it a 'lap' cuz there is no 'top' anymore :lol:

PostPosted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 4:10 pm
by hari-bhari
ok so its been a while since ive updated this. ive had it up and running since august, but my laptop kinna crapped out so i am in the process of replacing it. ill try and post pics and details of the install in the coming days. overall, i am VERY satisfied with the project, especially the sound quality. the drivers i am using allow me full crossover and equalizer functionality at the source, so i dont need expensive components in between. the navigation works great, and i have google earth running on it too for satellite imagery of the cities i drive in most. if anyone has any special requests of pictures they would like to see, or how certain things will be mounted, please let me know and ill be sure to take specific ones. my total cost on the project was about 800 including the laptop, screen, audio card, gps receiver, wifi, usb hub, usb keyboard and mouse, power controller, rearview camera, hd radio (still in progress), some switches and wiring. you could probably get a basic system up and running with just audio and gps (which is all i use 90% of the time) for around 500.

PostPosted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 5:03 pm
by aleki2424
man this is really cool. looking backa t the barebones systems that run up in the 15's lastt time i checked, 5oo is really a good deal
my question lies with the harnesses and how the hook up works, since u are only using the laptop's body.
p'm ed

PostPosted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 5:14 pm
by Dawgz
you could, do a linux boot off a flash drive, and have a few 4gb flash drives as space, that would rule out any hard drive problems, a spinning disc reading and writing + a car in motion = soon to be dead hard drive.

PostPosted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 11:22 pm
by hari-bhari
actually you would be surprised, laptop hard drives can take a shock of 100 (or was it 1000gs). over at the mp3car forums you will find many users that have had laptop drives mounted in their cards for years without any problems. mounting vertically helps too so that if there is a bump the platters dont hit each other, causing less damage. to top it off, the thinkpad im using has active drive protection which will shut it off in case of any large bumps. worse comes to worst, ill replace the drive every year or two at the cost of 30 bucks, that is something im well willing to tolerate, but i highly doubt ill have any issues. after about 5 months of use in the car, and the drive itself being 2.5 years old, i still have no damaged sectors.

as for the question regarding the harness, its not really a simple harness setup. the laptop is mounted in the trunk with all the vga and usb cables running to the front for my devices. the power supply is wired to provide the laptop, hub, and screen with power when the car is on and also continues to provide power to the laptop when the car is off so it can remain in standby. but it monitors battery voltage so in case it gets too low, it will shut the whole thing down so i dont kill my battery. so far its worked flawlessly and ive never needed a jump.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 12:53 am
by Dawgz
theres no way it can take 1000gs while its in operation, read up on it.


and durring shock, u dont really care bout the platters hitting each other, they wont, its the read/write head that will scratch the platter.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 8:53 am
by hari-bhari
point noted. but arent all of those items stacked in horizontal layers? if its mounted vertically it decreases the chances of them hitting each other. at any rate, you gotta make the best of a non-ideal situation. i do know some ppl using solid state drives, but the cost is much higher and very few people have had problems with the laptop drives. here are some threads to reference:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/general ... cally.html
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/general ... drive.html

PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 9:03 am
by aleki2424
i wouldn't recommend the extra cost of the ssd's since at this point you havent had any issues with your current drive. plus the cost of replacing the drive if it crashed would not be that much anaway.
thanks for the pm btw^^